EMC chief sees the future in cloud computing

“We’re now going through what I believe is pretty much going to be the biggest wave in the history of information technology,’’ said Tucci, adding that Hopkinton-based EMC is in position to ride that wave to more success.

Tucci made his remarks at EMC World, the giant storage company’s annual convention. About 5,000 EMC customers from 103 countries are attending the show at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, along with 750 of its closest allies, such as representatives from data networking titan Cisco Systems Inc.

EMC is the leading maker of massive systems for managing the huge stores of data of corporations and governments. Storage is vital to the concept of cloud computing — the idea of keeping software and information in remote data centers, where it can be accessed by computers, cellphones, and other digital devices anywhere in the world.

Companies like Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. use cloud computing to deliver their own online services and host business applications for other firms. EMC is also pushing the concept of “private clouds,’’ where individual companies create specialized online data centers. Tucci predicted that thousands of businesses will set up private clouds, and he is positioning EMC as a major supplier of the hardware and software they will need.

Yesterday, EMC unveiled a key component of its private cloud strategy. EMC VPLEX is a line of products that will allow a company to store large amounts of information at multiple data centers but manage all of them as a single information warehouse. The first version of VPLEX will allow seamless sharing of data between centers up to 60 miles apart. An advanced version, due next year, will extend the range by thousands of miles, so a company can centrally manage data centers located almost anywhere.

“You can have multiple physical devices at multiple addresses all acting as one system,’’ said Brian Babineau, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group in Milford. “You’re essentially building your own cloud by connecting multiple storage systems.’’

Babineau said this approach to storage could cut data center operating costs, making it attractive to companies that have reduced their budgets due to the economic downturn. But Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with Yankee Group in Boston, said it may be some years before corporations are ready to embrace cloud-based storage, because they must be convinced the technology is reliable enough for critical data. “From an adoption standpoint, I think we’re in the first inning of a Yankees-Red Sox game, which tends to take forever,’’ he said.

But EMC’s recent acquisitions and alliances indicate that the company is committed to cloud storage. Last year, it made a deal with Cisco to sell integrated computer, storage, and networking services. EMC also spent $2.1 billion to buy Data Domain, which makes products to eliminate unnecessary duplication of stored data — a process vital to making storage clouds more efficient.

Tucci said he expects to buy other companies that can help him flesh out EMC’s cloud storage offerings. “Are we going to be acquisitive this year?’’ he said. “The answer is absolutely yes.’’

Hiawatha Bray can be reached at bray@globe.com.